


Love Is Alive

by AceComets



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Angst, Arranged Marriage, F/M, Mentions of Imra, Unresolved Romantic Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-19
Updated: 2018-02-19
Packaged: 2019-03-21 00:44:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13729521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AceComets/pseuds/AceComets
Summary: It's unfair that love is still alive in both their eyes. It's unfair that they still have love between them and no way to resolve their situation.





	Love Is Alive

**Author's Note:**

> A prompt for Filmance (@walea23) on Twitter where Kara catches Mon-El looking at old pictures of theirs and the feelings that invokes. Takes place sometime after 3x10 and before 3x13. Warning, there isn't exactly a happy ending for this. Please be gentle, I'm not the best writer but I enjoy it so there are probably mistakes and such. I'm very sorry.

The DEO didn't feel the same to Kara. It hadn't felt that way for a few months now. From the invasion to Mon-El's forced departure, to coping with that and his sudden return, the routine and steadiness of Kara's life had vanished. She was still Supergirl, still protecting National City and Earth, and it still mattered to her but so much had changed. The constant ache and pain that she had carried changed her. Some called her cold and detached but they just couldn't understand. She had lost the most human part of her, her heart.

And then Mon-El had returned and for a moment, a glimmer of hope rose in Kara. She could be the person she was when her heart was full. Happy, in love, making a difference as only Supergirl could with the love and support of Mon-El behind her. Then it was snatched away and she was back to the turmoil she had been fighting through with some added pain she had never expected.

The man who had returned resembled Mon-El in some ways but had changed in so many others. It warmed Kara's heart to know she was his inspiration for the good he did in the future, that he had become the hero she had known he could be all along. But other than that, his whole being had been different. It was so rare to see light and life in his eyes. Once he had told her she carried the weight of the world on her shoulders and recently, she had seen him carrying it instead.

Things were quiet in National City, which had severely worried Kara. Reign was up to something and tracking her down had not proven easy. It gave her too much time on her hands to be alone with her thoughts. Walking alone along the halls, her cape sweeping behind her, Kara lingered about the DEO. Alex and J'onn were nowhere in sight and Winn had been doing something with the mainframes with Brainiac-5. 

Approaching the medical wing, Kara's walking slowed as the familiar figure of Mon-El caught her eye. She contemplated turning around and heading the other way but his stillness drew her in.

Sitting at the edge of one of the bed, his head was tilted down and he appeared to be deeply focused. As quiet as she could, she approached the entrance, still watching him. In his hands there was a thin strip. Without even seeing it, she knew what it was. 

Months ago, which now felt like a lifetime, after she had been fired from CatCo she had taken Mon-El to the mall for a true human experience. They had visited all the stores, played with the Legos, gotten a huge bag of candy to share and finally ended up at the photo booth. The four, fully cliche pictures they had taken were the only ones of the two them as a couple in existence. She had kept her sheet on her bedside table. It had never crossed Kara's mind where Mon-El had his. A few new questions popped up as she wondered where he found his sheet.

Kara's leaned against the door, watching as Mon-El's thumb stroked the pictures and a small battle waged in her mind. She could step in and ask about the pictures, maybe make a cute joke and elicit a laugh. Instead, she stayed in place, watching him in a place at the DEO that had unintentionally became theirs. This was the very room they shared their first kiss. It was the place she had started to realize how much Mon-El mattered to her. It was theirs. 

Letting out the softest of sighs, Kara turned and walked away instead

 

**xxLIAxx**

Seeing Mon-El with their pictures earlier had taken a toll on Kara. It was the repeated cycle of frustration and anger at their situation, the promise she was going to move on and her being unable too at the same time. At Alex's suggestion, she had made her way down to the training room and was currently getting some of those feelings out on a poor punching bag.

Kara had been so worked up that she hadn't heard the door open or noticed Mon-El until a turning punch almost landed on his head.

"Whoa!" Mon-El exclaimed as he caught Kara's hand just before it collided with him.

The small touch sent electricity through them both. A quick look into each other's eyes toward into shy diverting away.

"Sorry." Kara mumbled as Mon-El dropped her wrist.

"It's okay. I heard you were down here, just wanted to come check in."

Kara nodded and turned from Mon-El, "I'm fine thanks."

"You sure? Petey here looks a little beat up."

"Petey?" Turning around, Kara quirked a curious eyebrow upwards.

"Yeah, Petey." Mon-El said with a laugh as he playfully tapped his fist against the bag, "I used to beat on his so bad I thought he deserved a name."

The standoffish exterior Kara had been holding onto quickly dissipated as she let out a giggle. That was her Mon-El, the one who made silly jokes and reminded Kara of the simple and pure joy she was allowed to embrace.

"Ah so she does still laugh." He said, his smile extending and then falling as his eyes danced away from her. It was one of those small uncomfortable truths. In the few times they had been around each other, it was typically tense, surrounded by talk of Reign or a general unease of their whole situation.

Kara's own smile mirrored his before she inhaled in deeply.

"I saw you in the med bay this morning. With the picture sheet."

The words tumbled out of her mouth so fast and quickly both their eyes found each other's. They stood, a few feet apart looking at each other, hoping the other would take the lead in the conversation.

Mon-El's mouth opened a few times and shut just as quickly.

"Where did you find them?" Kara asked quietly.

Mon-El pulled his bottom lip between his teeth and pulled his eye's from Kara. He was happy to look anywhere in the training room but at her. This was the worst and best part of being back. There was so much he needed and wanted to say and no way to actually do it.

"I had them with me." Mon-El finally answered, his own voice soft, "I carried the pictures with me that day we fought my mother. I don't know why I did. I think it was because I just wanted you to be near me no matter what. And then, well you know the rest."

All morning Kara had been wondering where he found the pictures, how he'd gotten his hands on them and why and for some reason, Mon-El carrying it with him on that fateful day never crossed her mind. It should have though. It was a very Mon-El thing to do.

Kara took a seat on the bench built into the wall and dropped her head. The words were fighting to come out, to just admit to him how much his presence hurt her and how proud she was of him, that she just needed to know he was okay.

Mon-El crossed the room and took a seat next to Kara, his eyes focused squarely on her. The same war had been waging since he had returned.

"Our pictures are what carried me through these last seven years." Mon-El admitted. "I was so lost and upset and I kept those pictures close to me every day while I was trying to find a way back."

"Why didn't you come back sooner? With the time travel?" Kara turned to him and instantly stopped talking as soon as they locked eyes. The pain was there, the pain that mirrored her own but there was also a light. She knew that light belonged to her as hers belonged to him. It was love hiding behind the pain.

"I wanted too. So bad." He replied, his voice cracking. His hand reached over to cover Kara's, squeezing softly. "Time travel is so complicated. If I didn't come back at the exact right moment then I could have altered the entire future. I couldn't come back earlier either or I'd change our history. I, I just..."

Kara shut her eyes as the words washed over her. Her free hand came to Mon-El's cheek, resting gently. "You didn't want to risk erasing everything we had."

Silence passed between them as Mon-El nodded. It didn't make it easier. The missed time was only one of their current problems. The other invaded Kara's thought as she recognized the intimacy between them at the moment.

"You got married. You moved on." Kara added, her hand dropping and her other pulling away from him.

Dropping his head, Mon-El let out another sigh. "Yes. But it's not what you think."

"I think it is Mon-El. You have a wife. That's moving on."

"I do. Because I had too."

Kara turned her head back to him, her face scrunched in confusion. "That makes no sense. You didn't have to get a wife."

"I did though." Mon-El sighed in frustration again as he shook his head. "I can't tell you too much because it could change the future Kara. Please, just believe that. And believe me when I tell you that I married Imra to protect Earth, the very Earth that you made me love. It wasn't because I was over you. I'll never be over you."

Reaching under the collar of his tee, Mon-El pulled the necklace out and showed it to Kara, "This necklace and those pictures are all I have left of you right now. They mean everything to me, just like you do."

Kara could see it in his eyes again, the plea for her to trust in him, believe him and it was difficult not too. Hiding behind that pain was the love. She just kept coming back to that. She couldn't understand, not fully, but right now she didn't need to. Kara knew Mon-El, she knew the man who was pleading right now and knew that he meant every single word he had said. 

Kara took Mon-El's cheeks between her arms and stared at him, finally letting out a nod. In return, he let out a sigh and shut his eyes, leaning into Kara's touch.

"Do you still love me?" It was barely above a whisper but Mon-El heard it. The happy ending wasn't possible right now. There was too much to work through, to sort through and worry about but somehow, he just knew that somehow the two of them would get that ending.

His head nodded as he slowly opened his eyes into Kara's.

"Always." 


End file.
